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They Wanted Blood —J. Cole Explains Steering Clear of Kendrick Lamar Feud

American rapper J. Cole has opened up about his decision to retract a diss track aimed at fellow artist Kendrick Lamar.

Recall that Cole initially responded to Lamar’s jab on ‘7 Minute Drill,’ where he said Lamar had “fallen off like the Simpsons” following Lamar’s remarks on Future and Metro Boomin’s track ‘Like That,’ featuring him.

In a surprising turn of events, during his set at the 2024 Dreamville Festival in North Carolina this past April, Cole paused his performance to publicly apologize to Lamar.

Addressing the situation on his recent single, ‘Port Antonio,’ Cole revealed that those fueling the feud were only interested in generating buzz and controversy for their gain.

He expressed that pursuing the conflict further would have led to unnecessary animosity between him and Lamar.

“I pulled the plug because I saw where that was about to go, they wanted blood, they wanted clicks to make their pockets grow.

“They see the fire in my pen and think I’m dogging smoke. I wouldn’t have lost the battle, dog, I would’ve lost a bro, I would’ve gained a foe, and all for what?” He said.